Prevention of concussion in youth sport

This is an opportunity to apply for a funded full-time PhD in the College of Health, Science and Society, UWE Bristol. The studentship will be funded by the National Institute for Health Research.

Ref: 2526-OCT-CHSS02.

The expected start date for this studentship is Wednesday 1 October 2025

The closing date for applications is 1 June 2025

This funded PhD studentship is based in the Centre for Public Health and Wellbeing at the University of the West of England, Bristol.

The project will be funded through the NIHR HealthTech Research Centre in Brain Injury (HRC) Fellowship Programme, which has been designed to support the research needs across its 5 themes: prevention & education, acute care & monitoring, restoration & rehabilitation, diagnostics and life-course. Central to the programme are 7 core academic projects, across 4 academic partners. This PhD will contribute to the Prevention Theme of the NIHR HealthTech Research Centre on Brain Injury.

Young people’s participation in sport has multiple health and wellbeing benefits. However, many sports expose participants to an increased risk of head impacts, mild traumatic brain injury and sports-related concussion. There is a growing body of research showing that, whilst most players recover fully and rapidly, some people experience persisting post-concussion symptoms. For children and adolescents, persisting symptoms can have significant impacts on their home life, education, and social interactions. Research shows that repeated traumatic brain injury is associated with a greater risk of poor outcomes from education, involvement in the criminal justice system and long-term neurological damage.

The Concussion in Sport Research Forum have identified 10 priorities for research relating to head impacts in collision sports. Four of these priorities relate to either primary prevention (preventing the head injury event), secondary prevention (limiting the injury sustained during a head injury event) or tertiary prevention (limiting the consequences of the injury sustained through prompt diagnosis of a traumatic brain injury and application of evidence-based interventions).

Project details

The purpose of this PhD is to contribute to the evidence base for the prevention of concussion in youth sport. The PhD will address one of the following priority research areas:

1. Investigating the effect of sports-related concussion / mild TBI in children and adolescents in the context of developmental trajectories and understanding how differences in age affect short- and long-term effects of head impact exposure.
2. Understanding the factors within individuals that modify long term outcomes after head impact exposure, including age, sex, ethnicity, cardiopulmonary fitness and genetic risk.
3. Evaluating the impact of guidelines and protocols to prevent concussion or persisting post-concussion symptoms at different levels of individual sports.
4. Evaluating strategies for prevention and assessing their impact in reducing the number of clinically relevant head impacts in sport.

Applicants may use a range of research methods to address their chosen priority, including but not limited to; epidemiological, qualitative, knowledge mobilisation and evaluation techniques.

Benefits

The successful candidate will receive comprehensive research training including completing 60 credits of M level taught research modules and accessing the researcher development programme in the doctoral academy at the University of the West of England, Bristol. In addition to this institutional training and education support, the HealthTech Research Centre will offer a rolling educational programme delivered through a mixture of tutorials, workshops, web-based training resources, networking events and peer-led activities. This will equip fellows with unique considerations for developing HealthTech solutions, including modules in navigating the Regulatory and Commercial landscape, Essentials of Health Economics, Patient and Public Involvement and Engagement, How to Sell to the NHS, Research Inclusion, Research Design and Funding Support.

For an informal discussion about the studentship please email Professor Julie Mytton at Julie.Mytton@uwe.ac.uk

The studentship is available from Wednesday 1 October 2025 for a period of three years, subject to satisfactory progress and includes a tax-exempt stipend, which is currently  £19,237 (2024/2025) per annum.

In addition, full time tuition fees will be covered for up to three years (Home/domestic student rates). International students will be considered if they can demonstrate at the time of application how they will fund the difference between domestic and international fee rates.

Costs associated with delivering the research will be considered by the NIHR HealthTech Research Centre in Brain Injury (HRC) Fellowship Programme on a case-by-case basis. PPIE and dissemination costs will be covered. 

• A minimum of a 2:1 first degree in a relevant discipline / subject area with a minimum 60% mark in in the project element or equivalent, and a minimum 60% overall module average
• The potential to engage fully in the PhD and complete within 3 years
• For applicants who do not have English as their first language, a minimum English Language proficiency is required

Please submit your application online. When prompted use the reference number 2526-OCT-CHSS02.

Supporting documentation: you will need to upload a 2000-word research proposal, a covering letter, and copies of your degree certificates. A recognised English Language qualification is required.

References: you will need to provide details of two referees as part of your application.

The closing date for applications is 17:00 on 1 June 2025.

It is expected that interviews will take place at the beginning of July. If you have not heard from us by 25 July 2025, we thank you for your application but on this occasion you have not been successful.